Our winter house guest.

 We were given this beautiful Bougainvillea as a house warming present by some of our delightful neighbours. Such kindness! The fact that it came with a list of care instructions frightened me at first, but after having read through them a few times and done some intensive Internet research, I'm not frightened anymore, just slightly nervous. (The day when all the leaves fell off was a particular worry.)
You see, the Bougainvillea is not native to New York but comes from much sunnier climes and thus must be moved indoors in the winter to avoid certain death. It seems to be a delicate creature: it must not be kept too dry or too moist, it mustn't be too hot or too cold, and is a voracious feeder but of course mustn't be overfed. I took careful note of everything I read then decided to believe the web page that said, "In the winter, treat your Bougainvillea with near neglect."

Done.

And it's working, wouldn't you agree?

This I include to let certain parties know that I am finally going to taste a specimen from The Chocolate Pizza Company. We received this fantastic looking slice from some friends as a Thank You. I'll keep you posted!

(And if Jodi thinks he's getting any, he's sadly mistaken!)